Record sentence for Australian triple murderer

An Australian man who killed his Fijian-Indian ex-girlfriend and her two siblings was jailed for life Thursday and will serve at least 35 years, the longest non-parole period in Queensland state's history.

Max Sica, 42, was sentenced to life in the Brisbane Supreme Court on three counts of murder, with no prospect of release before he is well into his 70s.

After a marathon trial lasting five months, Sica was found guilty on Tuesday of murdering his former girlfriend Neelma Singh, 24, her brother Kunal, 18 and sister Sidhi, 12, in their suburban Brisbane family home in April 2003.

Sica claimed he only found the bodies at the house but jury accepted evidence he strangled Singh in a fit of rage, then bludgeoned Sidhi to death and drowned Kunal in a spa to avoid leaving any witnesses.

"These are brutal, horrific crimes in the worst category of murder," judge John Byrne said during sentencing. Byrne said Sica had shown no remorse, describing him as manipulative and deceitful.

Sica had lived next door to the Singhs, a Sikh family originally from Fiji, for several years and had rekindled a relationship with Neelma shortly before her death by falsely claiming he had a brain tumour and just weeks to live.